(1 of )A 1927 Analy yearbook photo of "The Girls Cabinet." An organization with the goal of improving social status and promoting good fellowship. Phillippa Williamson was the student leader and Miss Davis, front row in dark stockings, was the teacher. (Courtesy of the Western Sonoma County Historical Society)

(2 of )During the 1920s, Petaluma’s Mystic Theatre operated as a vaudeville venue. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(3 of )Piner school student performers pose for a portrait in their “Enchanted Garden” costumes on June 12, 1927. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(4 of )Geyserville High School class of 1927. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(5 of )A 1927 Analy Union High School Azalea yearbook photo of the "A" class basketball team standing on the steps of the gym. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(6 of )In the 1920s, County detective John Pemberton, right shown raiding a still with federal agents, is noted for his zeal in enforcing the liquor ban. (Press Democrat Archive)

(7 of )Speakeasies could be found in the most unexpected places. In this photo, the Eagles Drum Corp play at a picnic in Tomales in 1926. A historical note on this photo claims that the house in the background was a speakeasy. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(8 of )Struggling businesses found ways to get around the restrictions. During the rip-roaring days of Prohibition, Emma Fetters served a "hot water" at the Fetter's Hot Springs resort. In this 1911 photo, Fetters Hot Springs Resort is shown before Prohibition. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(9 of )A group of men at Bohemian Grove in Monte Rio in August of 1927. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(10 of )The Cazadero Community Hall in 1927. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(11 of )Carroll C. Doane with his dog, Jack, on the Sonoma Coast in 1927. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(12 of )A portrait of Sonoma County resident Barbara Ann Steiner taken in August of 1927. (Courtesy of the Western Sonoma County Historical Society)

(13 of )The Analy Union High School Memorial Gymnasium in Sebastopol 1927. Analy's original gym was a wooden structure and was replaced in 1927 by this brick building. W. H. Weeks was the architect credited with the design. This gym was in use until the 1970s when it was demolished to make room for the school's Willard Libby Library. (Courtesy of the Western Sonoma County Historical Society)

(14 of )Analy High School students standing on the front steps of the school, 1927. (Courtesy of the Western Sonoma County Historical Society)

(15 of )A 1927 advertisement announcing the opening for the newly completed hatchery and offices of the Must Hatch Incubator Company. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(16 of )The house at 245 Keokuk Street in Petaluma was built for I. B. Raymond and his family in 1905. The structure is no longer standing. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(17 of )The 1927 third grade class of Sebastopol School which was located on Bodega Avenue in Sebastopol. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(18 of )John Dei leads his prized bull in Valley Ford, circa 1927. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(19 of )A 1927 photo of Volney T. Ballou posing in front of his car in 1927. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(20 of )A view of the Russian River from a Guerneville bridge in 1927. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(21 of )A wedding portrait of Cornelia "Bunni" Myers and her bridesmaids at the Congregational Church in Sebastopol in 1927. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(22 of )The wedding portrait of Clement F. and Ann Rossi Vanoni taken on on September 21, 1927. Clement was a Sonoma County cattle Rancher. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(23 of )Fourth Street looking east in Santa Rosa, circa 1927. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(24 of )Elizabeth Hendren Graham with her Coleman Valley School students in 1927. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(25 of )Dorothy Speckter Lapham and Beatrice Decker Beedle pose for a photo in an automobile, circa 1927. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(26 of )Dorothy, Marjorie and Raymond Cochrane pose for a picture in Petaluma, circa 1927. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(27 of )Dorothy Harmon with husband Carl John Van Vicel, married 1927. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

(28 of )Clarence and Bruna Urton pose for a portrait in 1927. (Courtesy of the Sonoma County Library)

Vintage photos show what life looked like in 1927 Sonoma County

JANET BALICKI WEBER

FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT | November 10, 2017

Flappers, bootleggers and booze — the decade following WWI was popularly known as the "Roaring Twenties."

In Sonoma County, residents were keeping pace with the rest of the nation. Women's hemlines were shorter and hair was bobbed. Following a suffrage movement, women gained the right to vote in the United States in 1920, but California residents had the privilege since 1911.

By 1927, Sonoma County was several years into Prohibition. Hop growers endured by selling crops to European brewers. Fetter's Hot Springs visitors could soak in the actual "hot waters" or partake in the alcoholic kind.

The major source of income for county residents was largely agricultural. Dairy and eggs were big business in Petaluma, where Lyman Byce's 1879 invention of an egg incubator turned the city in the "Egg Basket of the World."

What did Sonoma County look like 90 years ago in 1927? Take a look in our gallery above.